Happy Birthday MaryEvelyn!

Today was my second-born daughter, MaryEvelyn's 6th birthday. We had the ROYAL PARTY for her and my oldest last Saturday night, but we always try to make the ACTUAL day of their birth something special for them.

Nathan and I started the day by lifting our sleeping birthday girl carefully out of her bed at 6:15 am and placing her between us in our bed. See, this particular child of ours is a snuggler and I couldn't think of a better way for her to wake up than snuggled in between us. It worked, she nuzzled in and woke up smiling from ear to ear.

Nathan is home for all of the children's birthdays. It is a traditions that we adopted from some friends and we like it. The kids love knowing that they have Daddy here on their special day. After all, if he weren't here, how could he fix their special request breakfast? MaryEvelyn's choice for breakfast was Daddy's yummy pancakes; only she wanted them PINK. To my surprise, her Daddy delivered. Pink pancakes taste pretty good! They tasted even better to her, because she got them served on the "YOU ARE SPECIAL" plate that we reserve for extra special occasions, like birthdays (or full days of successful potty training, LOL!).

Life doesn't COMPLETELY stop and we had some errands to run, but then we dined at the oh-so-chique, Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. The kids whirled around and buzzed every buzzer. They shot hoops and skee'd ball until they almost dropped. We had a great time.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet MaryEvelyn. You are a beautiful little lady that is growing up before our eyes. You are our creative sky-watcher and we LOVE how your creativity shines in everything you do. Even though we don't have room to hang the hundreds of cards you make for us in any given week, you can rest assured that they touch our hearts and can sometimes be the golden light shining through a otherwise dismal day. We love you so much and we cannot tell you in words how grateful we are that God delivered you to us. You were our surprise, but God's great and marvelous gift.

This past year, you have really begun searching for YOUR own place with the Lord. I pray that this next year will be filled with every color of the rainbow for you and that you will continue to seek your own life with Christ. He loves every inch of you and He knows the thoughts that I know you have in your heart for Him. I look forward (with HUGE crocodile tears in my eyes) to the day that you come to me with the news of finding your place with Him; safe and sound.

I love you baby. You are my sunshine.